Last month, the United States Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules and guidelines for airline carriers operating at certain Middle Eastern countries. The new rules restrict passengers from bringing any electronic device bigger than a mobile phone inside the plane’s cabin. While this resulted in a lot of backlashes, airline operators were quite quick to provide a solution to the problem and Emirates is one of them.
Yesterday, the airline company announced its plans to mitigate the inconveniences that the recent ban on electronic gadgets have imposed on its passengers. Starting immediately, Emirates will provide Microsoft Surface tablets to its passengers who are flying to the US. This is in response to the new guideline that the FAA has imposed on airlines flying from the Middle East.
In keeping with the new guideline, passengers will have to surrender their electronic gadgets like a laptop or a tablet. In exchange, the airline will provide in-house Surface tablets to each passenger for them to use while in flight. Furthermore, passengers will also be allowed to bring a USB device where they can store their documents; documents that they will need access to while they are on the plane.
Emirates is not the first airline company to offer a solution to the current electronics ban. In fact, Qatar Airways announced a few days after the FAA ban that it will lend laptops to its premium-class passengers flying to or from the US.
To those who are unaware, this ban on electronic gadgets stemmed from a recent intelligence that a device bigger than a mobile phone may be used as a bomb. According to the United States Department of Homeland Security, these electronic devices may be used by would-be terrorists to smuggle explosives and control them while on board a plane. The ban covers nine major airports from the Middle East and some parts of Africa, including Turkey.